Muntjac Deer.
Well, this certainly isn’t what I expected for today’s photograph. A Muntjac Deer swimming in the River Kennet in Newbury!
I was moving the boat to fill up the water tank and dispose of waste. Coming out of our mooring, there was another boat in front of us. We shared the lock, and them then chap on the boat in front commented on this Muntjac Deer in the water.
Of course, I didn’t have either of my cameras handy. Just the trusty mobile phone. Thanks to the advance warning, I was able to not only see this very unusual scene, but grab a shot of it as well!
Although the shot looks very rural, this is actually in the centre of Newbury. The river edges are rather overgrown at this point, but not that long ago this was part of Newbury Wharf.
I don’t know what happened to the deer after this. When we returned from the marina, there was no sign. Hopefully, it found somewhere to get out of the river.
Photograph Details:
- Taken: 23 Jun 2017
- Camera: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge SM-G935F
- Lens: Integrated
- Focal Length 4mm
- F/1.7
- 1/230 Sec
- ISO 40
I saw one swim across the river Bure in Norfolk in front my hire boat last week.
This afternoon, about 1600 on 16th May 2022, while carrying out a check that a swarm of bees I had hived early on Sunday morning was still in the hive, I saw a muntjac swimming in the Mill Stream at Clewer, Windsor. It hardly seemed to see me. It clambered out of the water into a fairly tall reed bed and I lost sight of it. The reed bed is opposite a boatyard and I’d guess the muntjac stood about 3 feet high and might have weighed around 20kg.
This afternoon, about 1600 on Monday 16th May, I was visiting my apiary on the bank of the Mill Stream, Clewer, Windsor. Edging towards the bank to see if I could see any nesting swans (most years they do nest and produce young, most of them become victims of foxes), I saw the head of a small deer swimming in the stream …. perhaps at a distance of about 10 feet. Having swum a further 6-8 feet, the deer clambered out of the stream and I could see it was a muntjac deer. It stood about 3 feet high and might have weighed 40-50 lbs. I lost sight of it behind a willow tree and in the tall reeds of a reed bed- which is just opposite a boatyard. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me.
I and my dogs while walking by the river Lark in Mildenhall witnesses on the opposite bank two Muntjac deer.
One was chasing the other which was screaming and was being pursued by the other. Its escape was diving into the river, and swimming underwater across the river to my bank. Unfortunately it came out where I was standing, dived back in, went underwater along the bank and ran out into the wood behind me. I have not read that they could do this but it’s certainly in their capabilities.